Apparatus for opening silk fibers.



No. 63|,9`52- Patented Aug. 29., |899.

. L. B. MAGID.

APPARATUS FOR OPENING SILK FIBERS.

(Application lecl Apr, 24. 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 No Model.)

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No. 53|.992. Patented Aug. 29, |899. L. B. MAGID.

APPARATUS FOR OPENING SILK FIBERS.

(Application filed Apr. 24, 1899.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS B. MAGID, OF ISOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MAGID- HOPE SILK MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

APPARATUS FOR OPENING SILK FIBERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 631,992, dated August e9, 189e.

Application iiled April 24. 1899.

To' ct'ZZ whom it 11i/Cty concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS B. MAGID, of Boston, inthe county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of and Apparatus for Opening Silk Fibers, ofwhich the following is a specication.

This invention has for its object to provide an improved apparatus or machine for treating silk-waste so as to transform and utilize in various arts the large amount of this valuable material which has heretofore been rel gardcd as practically worthless owing to the crude methods and insufficient machinery hitherto employed. By the term silk-waste I mean especially the tangled and knotted as well as twisted odds and ends of unwoven silk-threads, the same being unfit for weaving or for any other likeuse and therefore practically useless in the market, but having full length and strength of staple, and hence much too valuable to be thrown aside as useless. The several silk-mills of the country accumulate from time to time large quantities of this material-namely, silk-waste in the form of twisted and knotted threadswhich under mymode of treatment is converted again into fiber and adapted to be transformed into various useful forms by the usual operations of spinning, weaving, dac.

Heretofore it has been common to treat various kinds of fibrous material in carding-machines to separate and rearrange the fibers preparatory to other mechanical manipulations; but such machines are not adapted for my purpose-namely, to convert silk-waste back to a fiber adapted to be spun and wovenbecause they unnecessarily break up and injuriously shorten the ber and do not leave it open and free from twisted and knotted imperfections, the product heretofore produced by such machines being` incapable of proper use in the manufacture of yarn or thread. A machine of special construction is required owing to the peculiar nature of silk-waste, and such a machine I have devised after a long period of experiment and study, the said machine forming an essential feature of my present invention. v

I employ a series of large drums, preferably five in number, having their peripheries pro- Serial No. 714,293. (No model.)

vided with rigid teeth adapted to separate and open the bers of silk-Waste. These cylinders are driven by power and rotated at successively-increasin g rates of speed, the last of the series running much faster than the Iirst. O ver each cylinder is a closely-set series of small toothed cylinders or Workersv also having rigid teeth adapted to cooperate with the teeth of the cylinder. Other toothed cylinders,corresponding to the so-called fancy cylindersV or fancies of carding-machines, are also preferably employed in connection with the main cylinders, the said fancies also having rigid teeth, and the entire seriesnamely, the main cylinders, the workers, and the fancies-cooperating to progressively disintegrate-or reduce the material under treatment to its original condition of disassociated fiber. These have a lateral clinging tendency somewhat akin to the felting of wool fibers, and they may be readily spread to form a uniform lap, divided into slivers, bleached, if desired, elongated and spun, and afterward woven or knitted into fabrics or garments of various kinds. Suitable means are employed for feeding the material to the first toothed cylinders, and doffng-cylinders are employed to transfer the material from one main cylinder to the next.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l represents a side elevation of a silk-waste-opening machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a view in elevation, partly broken away, of one of the cylinders. Fig. 3 represents an end elevation of one of the cylinders. Fig. 4 represents a detail perspective view of a portion of one of the toothed strips hereinafter described.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, a d' a2 CL3 a4 represent a series of tive toothed cylinders which are hereinafter referred to as the main cylinders. These are supported by shafts which are journaled in bearings in a suitable supporting-frame and are provided with rigid acuteangled teeth which are preferably formed by placing a plurality of strips b of sheet metal upon the peripheries of the cylinders, the outer edges of said strips being serrated to IOO VI prefer to make the teeth upon the first cylinder thicker than those upon the second, and so on, the preferred variation in the thick- .ness of the teeth being expressed by the statement that the gage of the stripsb on the first cylinder may be l2, while the gages of the strips on the succeeding cylinders a', a2, d3, and af* may be respectively 16, 20, 24, and 28. The cylinders are rotated atsuccessivelyincreasing rates of speed, the preferred rates being as follows: The rst cylinder d one hundred and eighty revolutions per minute,

Athe cylinder ct two'hundred per minute, the

cylinder a2 two hund red and fteen per minute, .the cylinder a3 two hundred and thirty per minute, and the cylinderaL two hundred and forty-five per minute. Therefore the teeth of each faster-rotating cylinder are of finer gage than those of the preceding or slower-rotatin g cylinder.

In connection with each of the main cylinders I employ a series or plurality of small toothed cylinders or workers c, the teeth of which have the same characteristics as those of the main cylinders. These workers are rotated at rates of speed corresponding to those of the cylinders which they accompany,

the workers being, however, rotated slightly slower than the cylinders.

d and d represent toothed cylinders corresponding in position and arrangement with the fancies of carding-machines and having v teeth resembling those of the main cylinders and workers, these fancies being rotated at about the same speed as the cylinders with which they cooperate.

e e represent a series of doer-cylinders arranged to transfer the material from each main cylinder to the next, each doffer-cylinder having teeth resembling those of the main cylinders and rotated at substantially the same rateas the main cylinder from which it receives the material.

The material to be treated is delivered by a feed-apron g to positively-rotated feed-rolls fff' f', which deliver the material to a lickerin cylinder h, which in turn delivers the material to a second licker-in cylinder h', the latter delivering the material to the rst main cylinder a. The cylinders h h have teeth resembling those of the other cylinders above described. The feed-rolls are positively rotated at a slower rate of speed than the first cylinder a and the licker-in cylinders, and they therefore exert a holding-back action on thematerial while feeding it, so that the first licker-in cylinder, which rotates more slowly than the rst `main cylinder a, effects an initial opening of the bers, the pull exerted by the teeth of the rst licker-in cylinder being gentle, so that there is no breakage of the bers. The second licker-in cylinder,

rotating somewhat faster than the first and slower than the first main cylinder, continues the opening operation and presents the bers partially open to the rst cylinder a, which cooperates with the workers and fancies in continuing the progressive opening action. This action is continued throughout the entire machine, the successivelyincreasing speed of the parts successively encountered by the bers causing their complete openingl and the complete separation of the fibers by the time they reach the ends of the machine and without breakage or shortening of the bers.

It will be seen that the plurality of main cylinders and the cooperating workers and fancies and the acceleration of speed successively imparted to them give the machine an effect in the complete recovery of fiber from silk-waste not attainable by any apparatus heretofore known. A long staple is obtained, suitable for yarn and goods made therefrom, the bers being suitable for spinning and weaving without being mixed with any fibers of different material. Heretofore the means employed for opening silk-waste so shortened the ber as to make it unfit for anything'but ybattings or for mixture with wool or other 'long-staple ber for spinning and weaving.

Each main cylinder and the toothed cylinders accompanying it may be considered a fiber opener or separator, so that the machine illustrated in the drawings comprises a series of liber openers or separators the toothed surfaces of which are driven at successivelyincreasing rates of speed. Owing to the fact that the successive cylinders are driven-at a slightly constantly increasing speed, a draw-v ing action is obtained at the point where each cylinder takes the fibers from the doffercylinder preceding it, which drawing action is slight and not such as to tear or break the ber, and owing to the fact that the teeth of each cylinder are of ner gage than those of the preceding or slower-rotating cylinder IOO IIO

the bers as they are gradually opened out or drawn are more individually treated than would be the case with teeth of uniform gage throughout the entire series of cylinders.

I claim- 1. A machine for opening silk-waste, comprising aseries of fiberopeners or separators, each including a toothed cylinder and a series of toothed workers cooperating therewith, the teeth of said series of fiber-openers, being of gradually-increasing neness, and means for rotating the said openers at different rates of speed. i

2. A machine for opening silk-waste, comprising a series of cylinders having rigid teeth, a plurality of series of Workers having rigid teeth, each series cooperating with one of the cylinders, means for rotating the cylinders and Workers at different rates of speed, and means for transferring the material from cylinder to cylinder, each cylinder and the accompanying series of workers after the cated adjacent thereto, and toothed trans` ferring-cylinders located between the feedrolls and rst cylinder and rotated at substantially the saine speed as the latter, the teeth of each of the faster-rotating cylinders being iiner than the teeth of the preceding cylinder of the series.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my sigL nature in presence of two Witnesses.

LOUIS B. MAGID. Witnessesz C. F. BROWN, H. BROWN. 

